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By Jamie Stockwell Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, January 17, 2006; 3:09 PM A Richmond man who told authorities that college freshman Taylor Behl accidentally died during a sexual encounter with him was indicted today in Mathews County, Va., on a murder charge, officials said. County prosecutors said Benjamin Fawley, 38, was indicted on one count of first-degree murder in the slaying of 17-year-old Behl, whose body was found partially buried in a shallow ravine in the rural county Oct. 5.

Fawley indicted for murder in college student's deathBy the Associated Press January 17, 2006 RICHMOND, Va. -- Amateur photographer Benjamin Fawley was indicted Tuesday for the murder of Taylor Behl, a 17-year-old college student whose body was found in rural Mathews County. The county's commonwealth's attorney, Jack Gill, said Fawley was indicted on a first degree murder charge. "I don't want to go into any of the evidence in the case," he told reporters outside the courthouse. Behl was found dead on Oct. 5, one month after she was reported missing from Virginia Commonwealth University. Fawley, 38, is currently being...

Authorities will wait until January before presenting evidence to a grand jury about suspect Ben Fawley in the death of Virginia Commonwealth University student Taylor Behl, sources familiar with the case told The Times-Dispatch. The sources said Behl task-force investigators want to gather additional evidence to seek a murder charge against Fawley, a 38-year-old amateur photographer who told police he was with Behl when she died in Mathews County, less than 24 hours after last being seen in Richmond by her dormitory roommate the night of Sept. 5. Fawley told police that Behl died by accident during a consensual sexual...

At 71 years of age I have to admit that I really don't know what goes on inside the mind of someone in their teens. To many of you I'm just an old fart with a big mouth...and that's fine. If that's how you wish to regard me, that's your prerogative. I would prefer to think of myself as a concerned grandfather who has helped to raise three kids of his own; who now has seven grandchildren - including one teenager; a reasonably youthful "oldster" who is extremely passionate about life and who wishes to ensure that others feel the...

The judge presiding over a multijurisdictional grand jury hearing evidence in Taylor Marie Behl's death has signed a gag order prohibiting witnesses who appear before it from publicly discussing their testimony. Grand jury proceedings are secret, but witnesses called before the panel are customarily not prohibited from discussing their testimony after appearing. But yesterday's order, signed by presiding Judge Margaret Spencer, legally binds the witnesses called before the panel, which is expected to convene tomorrow for a second time to hear evidence in the case. Behl, a 17-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University freshman, disappeared on Sept. 5. Her decomposed body was...

Benjamin Fawley, a suspect in the death of Taylor Marie Behl, told police that the Vienna teenager died accidentally while they were having a sexual encounter, an attorney representing Behl's mother said yesterday. Her grieving mother disputed the account. "Let's be clear -- Ben Fawley murdered my daughter," Janet Pelasara said during a hastily arranged news conference outside her attorney's McLean office. "His claim that it was accidental is just one more perversion of the truth in his ever-changing web of lies." Fawley told investigators that he had consensual sex with Behl in her car parked near a beach in...

Amateur photographer Ben Fawley has admitted to being with Virginia Commonwealth University freshman Taylor Marie Behl when she died, but he says her death was accidental, according to a jailhouse statement he has given to police.

The family of VCU freshman Taylor Behl has scheduled her funeral, now that her remains have been released from the medical examiner. Viewing will be Thursday from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. at Money and King Vienna Funeral Home in Vienna. Services will be Friday at 11:00 a.m. at The Church of the Holy Comforter in Vienna. The 17-year-old's remains were discovered in a shallow gave in rural Mathews County last Wednesday. Police say they were led to the location after examining a photograph found on Ben Fawley's Web site. Fawley, 38, of Richmond,...

A man held in connection with the disappearance of Virginia Commonwealth University student Taylor Behl, already facing 16 child pornography charges, has now been charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Ben Fawley, 38, an amateur photographer who admitted to having a sexual relationship with the 17-year-old Behl, "was in possession of firearms prior to Taylor being reported missing," police said.

Richmond, Va (AP) - Richmond police say they don't expect charges to be filed Friday in the case of a missing teen whose remains were discovered in a wooded area earlier this week. Police spokeswoman Kirsten Nelson says officials have to figure out how 17-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University student Taylor Behl died before they can charge anyone. Nelson says determining a cause of death could take several days.

MATHEWS -- The Mathews High School class of 2000 voted Erin Crabill "Most Unique." Now she's at the periphery of the mystery surrounding the death of Virginia Commonwealth University student Taylor Behl, whose body was found in a shallow grave on land adjoining property owned by some of Crabill's family members. Crabill was known by Benjamin Fawley, the man considered a suspect in Behl's death, according to friends and Fawley's Web log. Fawley, a self-described amateur photographer, is in police custody, but not because of Behl's disappearance. Investigators following leads that he was seen with her the night she vanished...

Per Fox News...

The mother of a missing college student on Thursday said she believes a body found in a wooded area is her daughter. "The body found is most likely my baby's," Taylor Behl's mother, Janet Pelasara, said at a news conference of her home in Viena, Va. A task force investigating Behl's disappearance found a decomposed body in rural Mathews County Wednesday _ one month after the 17-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University freshman vanished. The body was found in a grave off a dirt path that led from one of the county's roads into a heavily wooded area.

Taylor Behl's mother and her family's attorney said this morning they are nearly certain that remains found yesterday in Mathews County are of those of the Virginia Commonwealth University freshman who has been missing since Sept. 5. Family attorney George Peterson said there is a "high degree of confidence that the body that was found is Taylor's." Behl's mother, Janet Pelasara, said the body is "most likely my baby." "I'm positive the authorities will bring these subhumans to justice . . . and pray they will receive the death penalty." Peterson said that he expected a positive identification shortly and...

MATHEWS COUNTY — The police task force investigating the disappearance of Virginia Commonwealth University student Taylor Marie Behl discovered the remains of a body Wednesday possibly connected to the case, said Richmond Police Chief Rodney D. Monroe. The badly decomposed body was found in a shallow grave in the Diggs area of the county – a wooded area roughly 70 miles east of Richmond in the 500 block of Knight Wood Road – after an extensive investigation by two VCU police detectives. Shortly after the discovery, the task force – which comprises law enforcement officials from the Richmond Police Department,...

October 5, 2005 Police investigating the disappearance of Taylor Behl called to scene of dead body Police investigating the disappearance of a 17 year old V-C-U student are examing remains found in Mathews County. Published reports say the remains have not been identified, but the task force working on the Taylor Behl case is on the scene. Behl was last seen September fifth. The remains were discovered in a grave behind a barn on an isolated piece of private property in the sparsely populated county, located about 50 miles east of Richmond.

Police want more information about Taylor Marie Behl, and today they're turning to a multijurisdictional grand jury to help them get it. Behl, a Virginia Commonwealth University freshman, disappeared Sept. 5, less than two weeks after the start of classes. Sources close to the criminal investigation into her disappearance told The Times-Dispatch that the grand jury, which typically meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, agreed to meet today, in part to hear evidence on the Behl case. The number of witnesses subpoenaed to testify could not be determined last night. The convening of the grand jury...

The Richmond police task force investigating the disappearance of Virginia Commonwealth University student Taylor Marie Behl has discovered the remains of a body in rural Mathews County. Sources close to the investigation said the body has not been identified. It was discovered in a shallow grave behind a barn on an isolated piece of private property just west of Diggs, a community along the Chesapeake Bay just south of Rigby Island. The area is about 70 miles east of Richmond. A law-enforcement source said police were led to the scene by a photograph identified by an ex-girfriend of a man...

Skateboards, sex toys, women's undergarments and a box with bones are among the items investigators removed last week during a search of the Richmond apartment of a 38-year-old man questioned in the disappearance of Taylor Marie Behl, according to court documents released yesterday. Detectives also removed cell phones, a machete, a .32-caliber cartridge, discarded clothing and the dirty laundry of Benjamin "Skulz" Fawley -- one of the last people to see the 17-year-old Virginia Commonwealth University freshman before she disappeared the night of Sept. 5.

Police are searching for information on a stolen license plate that may be connected to the case of Taylor Marie Behl, the Virginia Commonwealth University freshman who disappeared on Labor Day. The personalized "GRN ERTH" Jamestown 400th Anniversary Virginia plate was stolen in Richmond about the time the 17-year-old disappeared, police said. "This plate may be connected to the Taylor Behl investigation," said Maj. Peggy Horn of the Richmond Police Department. "At this time, we need additional information to make a final determination." The person from whom the plate was stolen is not connected with the case, police said. Police,...